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Her expectations were less subverted and more shattered by the breadth of information gleaned from Regina’s reaction. The girl who had made the whole club dance in the palm of her hand had, for the very first time, reacted with unvarnished surprise to Roche’s approach. Lacking anything approaching subtly when it came to other Magical Girls, it was just alarming to see as it was to feel the whip-cord tension of Regina’s muscle in their brief, lopsided embrace. 

Of course she’d rallied quickly, even if putting her back to the wall didn’t project the confidence she was aiming for. Just as outright revealing her intentions dispelled a layer of mystery, as though the Rule Keeper were peeking behind the curtain and seeing the Wizard at the controls of marvelous contraptions. 

[color=orange]”You knew she could handle it? So you were going to burn down the flower shop even without us being there.”[/color] Roche’s lips thinned, finding a piece added to the macabre jigsaw yet still working to find where it fit. The curdling of her expression only deepened as she stole a look into the class, spotting Misoka as she learned of troubles she’d been unaware of. 

[color=orange]”Sure you can- Wait, what?!”[/color] One could hear the record scratch as her brain ground to an abrupt halt. She fervently wished to have misheard but, alas, the group’s White Whale wanted to come into the club room all on her own. 

[color=orange]”Look, I like Misoka, and whatever is going on I’m happy to help, but if I bring Ashbringer to the club room, Nyxia will shoot first and ask questions later. Let alone Suki and Tsubomi’s reactions.”[/color] The tanned girl ground the heel of her palm into her brow, trying in vain to quash the pressure swelling behind her eyes. [color=orange]”You have to give us something here, or we’ll be repeating our last fight before you can finish introductions, and no one will be in a position to help Misoka after the school burns down.”[/color]

Though her estimations were shaken by the vulnerability from Regina, she still clung to her assumptions of her character. Wildly fanciful and the clear result of projection on her part, but the Rule Keeper held fast to the thought that Ashbringer was a principled young woman. The sort who imposed their own idea of right and wrong on the world via her own power. 

Someone who would force herself onto the Club without offering something in return.